1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of devices for delivering pigment material onto receiving surfaces of other objects. More specifically the present invention relates to a modular marker removably interconnectable to other such modular marker in selectable numbers and combinations to produce adjacent and parallel elongate markings on a receiving surface of different colors similar to a rainbow, and to a kit including several such modular markers containing different pigment materials producing different colored bands in the composite marking.
Each modular marker includes a marker housing in the form of a circular tube having a housing proximal end and having a housing distal end through which pigment material is delivered onto a receiving surface. A tubular cover cap is provided having a cap closed end and a cap open end for fitting over the housing distal end. The housing of each marker has laterally protruding marker interconnection arms preferably having a flat shape in the configuration of flanges for engaging an adjacent such marker so that markers are interconnectable and can only be interconnected along a collective straight line. Each interconnection arm (hereinafter “arm”) is flexible and resilient and has a curve along its length to fit around the curvature of and resiliently engage an adjacent marker housing. First and second arm sets, each including two arms protrude from the marker housing in directly opposing directions, so that two spaced apart arm engaging pairs interconnect adjacent markers in mutually parallel relation, preventing the markers from pivoting relative to each other out of parallel. For purposes of this application, the term “arm set” refers to two arms protruding from one side of the marker housing, while the term “arm pair” refers to the arms working in unison to interconnect two markers.
A key feature of each arm set is that the two arms making up the set are staggered in that they are spaced apart from each other along the length of the housing from which they protrude, so that each arm set includes an arm set upper arm and an arm set lower arm. The upper and lower arms of a given arm set combine with the lower and upper arms of an adjacent arm set of another marker to produce an upper arm pair and a lower arm pair spaced longitudinally from the upper arm pair. Each arm set contributes one upper arm to the upper arm pair, and one lower arm to the lower arm pair. The upper and lower arms of each arm set, in addition to being staggered longitudinally, extend from the marker housing at circumferentially spread apart angular positions. The staggered arm construction permits either arm set on one marker to interconnect with either arm set on another such marker, as long as the marker distal ends are pointing in the same direction. As a result, there is no need to study which way a given marker housing has to be oriented to connect to another such adjacent marker. A pigment material sealing elastomer ring resiliently fits around and into a reduced diameter segment of a nib holder at the housing distal end retaining a marking nib. The elastomer ring protrudes radially beyond the lateral extent of the nib, and the cover cap open end is sized to slide snugly, sealingly and engagingly over the elastomer ring so that ink cannot leak in the marker when it is not in use. The elastomer ring is also resiliently deformable to an extent that when marker cover caps are removed and one marker is interconnected with another and the marker elastomer rings are immediately adjacent and abutting each other, the rings compress sufficiently that the nibs of the markers can laterally abut each other to produce composite parallel marks of different colors which are contiguous. As a result, the elastomeric ring provides its sealing function without interfering with the interconnection function of the interconnection arms placing the nib distal ends adjacent to each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are several areas of prior art relating to the present invention. One such area is that of modular multi-color markers, another is that of nib material for such markers, and yet another is that of wick material for multi-color painting brushes. And a final area is that of painting kits for multi-color marking.
Modular Markers:
An example of prior art modular marking pens using flanges to grip adjacent pens is that of Faber-Castell, AU-A-52038/90, which shows a marker fitted with a cap, the cap having two parallel axially extending flanges spaced for more than the thickness of the pen shaft, in order to grip another identical pen. One cannot draw multi-color lines, either with spaces of contiguous, with these markers due to the flangular cap only being able to fit onto the nib end of the marker. Therefore, the marker bodies only grip one another when they are capped closed.
Other prior art, especially from applicant's previous U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,517 B2, proposes different embodiments of modular markers each having means of connecting by way of male and female parts. The male side of one marker must be fitted by a button, a sliding, or a holder means, into a corresponding female side of another marker. FIG. 1 is a prior art of applicant.
This means is the most commonly seen one for connecting markers together, but there has not been proposed a means of connection that overcomes the need for a male and female part on opposite sides of markers, and that obviates the need for people to look carefully at the markers, determine which sides fit together and perhaps have to turn one of the markers around in order to mate them correctly.
Prior art shown in FIG. 2 is by applicant from 2003, and discloses a modular marker with a long cap, the cap having a diameter large enough for the nib to be inserted without touching the insides of the cap, while the nib width is required to be as wide as or slightly wider than the widest diameter of the marker body in order for the nibs to touch when the markers are connected. Such a long cap is one method of capping the proposed marker. However, it requires a long rod to be inserted in the mould to form the void in the cap which is difficult to prevent from moving as the plastic is being injected, thus resulting in slightly asymmetrical caps. A means, therefore, is proposed in this invention that permits a shorter cap to be used.
Prior art from applicant in 2003 also discloses a nib of generic material, widened at the nib to be able to touch the adjacent nib of a connected marker. Until recently, it was not known what the best material for the nib would be.
Nibs:
seen in the prior art for fixed position multicolor markers have been nibs of longitudinally aligned fiber, porous plastic, and synthetic needle-punched fiber. Each material has similar advantages: they are rigid for insertion into marker bodies, their tips can be formed to a precise shape, and they are suitable for various water-based inks typically desired in multicolor markers. However, the rigidity and high density of each marker becomes an undesired factor when used with markers from previous applicant U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,517 that discloses modular multi-color markers and markers with variable nibs.
The longitudinally aligned fiber nibs and porous plastic nibs that are currently being manufactured are more rigid than needle-punched fiber, and are being used in multi-color marking pens with fixed position nibs. For example in prior art from Jakks Pacific, Inc's R.O.C. (Rainbow of Color) Writer™ which discloses a multi-color marker that draws three colored lines simultaneously, the porous plastic nibs are in fixed position with small gaps between them to keep the ink from blending and muddy. The full width of their tips do not always fully contact the paper enough to lay down lines of the intended width because the manufacturing or assembling of the product is not completely perfect. Thus, the nibs tend to be slightly angled to each other, aligned unevenly perpendicular to the intended lines or are extending unequal distances from the marker body. Even though this unevenness of the nibs may be so small that it is difficult to detect with the naked eye, it results in uneven lines with broad gaps between them. Also, upon normal usage, the outermost nibs wear away faster than the centermost nib, resulting in only two lines being able to be drawn at one time. If the nibs were soft enough, one could apply a moderate amount of pressure and have all of the nibs fully contact paper, but because the nibs are rigid plastic one would have to apply an extraordinary amount of pressure which would make it impossible to write, draw or paint normally.
Another prior art from Sun Star, Japan, discloses a two-color marker with two longitudinally aligned fiber nibs side by side. As the nibs leave the marker body they slightly angle away from each other to keep the nibs from touching at their tips thus preventing ink from mingling. Again, the nib's rigidity is used to keep the nibs separate, thus producing gapped lines.
Thus far applicant has been using higher density die-cut synthetic needed nonwoven or needle-punched material specifically engineered for low viscosity fluid for applicant's nibs. It is sanded in the factory to either a smooth, chisel or beveled tip. These nibs provide the shape, rigidity and fluid flow rate needed for the modular multi-color markers. However, applicant has found that due to the many variables in molding the plastic parts of multi-color markers, slight imperfections in the manufacture of the nibs, and the markers, final assembly, the nibs rarely lined up perfectly for contiguous lines. Applicant needed to improve the nibs to provide a “fuzzy logic” factor which could hide these imprecisions or variables.
Brushes:
as relates to brushes for painting contiguous multi-colored strokes, well known brushes are made of hair and bristles, whether synthetic or natural, sponge, and wool felt. Other materials that have been considered and tested are felted wool blend product and leather.
A most recent prior art is from popular artist, Donna Dewberry, using “sponge painters” and Fold Art™ One Stroke™ brushes. However, her work utilizes Fold Art™ acrylic paints which are high viscosity and would not easily flow through the other types of material for brushes. Another example is Dee Gruenig's product, called Posh and one high density sponge 23 mm thick by 40 mm wide and by 76 mm long. This sponge is the only one known in the prior art to be used with low viscosity ink. Other foam and sponge painting devices are low density and are typically used for high viscosity paints such as acrylics and so are very soft and tend to release too much low viscosity ink or paint when pressed onto paper with the same amount of pressure one normally uses to apply acrylic paint, or when strokes are applied slowly. Gruenig's sponge is similar to wedge-shaped sponges for applying make-up, but higher density. They are able to hold and release low viscosity ink and paint well on its surface, but do not have a natural wicking ability to absorb fluid into its pores. Therefore, ink or paint must continually be carefully applied to its surface. It also has a rubbery, high friction surface that squeaks when there is not enough fluid to lubricate it when stroked on paper. This sponge, as well as low density ones and foam brushes are not very durable as they tend to tear easily.
Another example is from street artists who paint people's names in multi-colored strokes by touching a wide tip brush onto several different colors of paint or ink. Some call themselves “leather-brush artists” while others state that they use other materials such as felted fiber shoe inserts, sponges and foam. However, it is apparent from testing that all of these materials have serious drawbacks. Leather does not have interconnected capillary passageways extending therethrough for the absorption and dispersion of paint. Felted fiber shoe inserts usually are not as compressed or tightly needled as hat felt, resulting in easily fraying edges. They are typically designed to be rough for non-slippage, cushioning for shock absorption, able to wick moisture and permit air flow for preventing athlete's foot, and/or thick for insulation in winter footwear. Therefore, it typically does not have the proper characteristics for taking up and dispersing ink or paint, which have viscosity and surface tension near that of water.
Although the best prior art material we found for multi-color painting is wool felt for hats, it has never been manufactured in a convenient form specifically for painting. Therefore, applicant has had to go through the inconvenient process of purchasing finished hats, which cost at least ten times more than the same amount of sheet felt, cut rectangles from the least curved parts, normally the rim, perhaps wash it to eliminate any dark coloring which will affect the color of the paint applicant uses and sand the tip to a chisel shape.
There are several reasons why wool felt has not been commercially developed as a water-based paint or ink brush. The first is that wool is hydrophobic and does not wick water-based paint or ink well unless treated with a surfactant, second, recent environmental regulations have made the process of producing wool felt nibs more costly; third, wool is being replaced by the less expensive, more versatile variety of synthetic fibers. Marker pens with wool felt nibs are generally used with solvent based ink for specialized applications where cost and the inhaling of evaporating solvents are not a concern. One such application is the marking of cardboard containers in an industrial shipping and receiving facility.
Quickly replacing solvent-based ink markers, recent broad-nibbed markers, called paint markers, have been developed using low density synthetic needle-punched material and water-based pigmented permanent ink. The nibs may be up to 8 mm thick and 50 mm wide. However, these markers have been designed to apply only one color of ink or paint at a time. Their nibs are too soft for multi-color marking because the low density fiber structure means larger voids, where different colors of ink quickly intermingle and the nib becomes “muddy”.
Thus, it is obvious from the prior art that there remains a need for brush products for painting multi-colored strokes that are made of synthetic needle-punched material engineered for marking pen nibs.
Painting Kits:
Not only has applicant not seen any brushes for multi-colored painting made of synthetic needle-punched nib material but furthermore, applicant sees the need for them to be assembled in a kit along with the right inks in a convenient, spill-proof dispensing system for the use of amateur artists and craftspeople desiring to learn the art of rainbow name painting. The aforementioned kits from Dee Gruenig and Donna Dewberry, plus Szelkely's Water Color Painting Apparatus (Szelkely U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,171), disclose kits for painting multi-colored lines or markings. However, they use foam sponge material for the paint applicators. Also, the means of dispensing ink in these prior art kits is unsuitable or tedious for the purpose of quick, accurate, multiple applications of paint to the brush for prolific painting. The drawback of Gruenig's paint dispensing system is that a user requires two hands—one to hold the sponge and the other to squeeze a minute amount of paint from the bottle onto the desired area of the sponge. One requires fine control over the squeezing of the bottle to dispense the right amount. Dewberry's kit does not pertain to applicant's method of watercolor painting because it utilizes thick, viscous paint, which is simply dispensed freely onto a waterproof surface. The paint has an adherent quality and does not spill or slide off the surface easily. Szelkely's painting apparatus is now being marketed as the “Rainbow Art Kit” and uses hard, dry blocks or paint secured in a tray or stand. The method of wetting to soften and loosen the paints is too time-consuming to be seriously considered for applicant's painting purposes.
Artists who do traditional rainbow name art use a system consisting of sponges situated in a container of paint with one end of the sponge protruding above the opening of the jar to dispense paint. The artist would be able to dab a specific section of the tip of his brush onto the sponge to wick up some paint. This system works well for adult professional artists, but is not easily obtainable, due to cost restraints and availability, to the general public market.
The best system would be similar to a fat, upside down marking pen. It would have a bottle-like enclosure for holding paint, which is narrow at the top (neck) for preventing excessive evaporation of ink. When the solvent and/or water in the paint evaporates, the paint becomes too viscous for the wicking action, and clogs the brushes' pores. Protruding from the neck and extending down all the way to the bottom of the bottle would be a wick for dispensing paint or ink. The wick needs to be stiff enough to not flop over when dabbed with a brush. It also needs to protrude far enough that the user's brush does not touch any other part of the bottle dispenser while dabbing. The wick would completely fill the neck orifice/opening except for a minute gap or hole to permit a sufficient airflow into the bottle as paint/ink is being drawn out. This would prevent spillage of paint/ink. A cap would cover the wick and orifice airtight and leak-tight.
These features are very important for professional and non-professional artists alike, and yet no system has existed prior to this invention. There are several reasons for this: for one, the very fine particle-size, highly pigmented paint that is traditionally used for this system is expensive and difficult to obtain, being used mostly by only a few people for this specific application and for high quality airbrush work. The best paint, however, is actually watercolor ink or dye which is used in marking pens, and which is not sold except as part of marking pens, and the quantities of ink in them are not sufficient to make it worth the trouble to cut open a marker and extract the ink. Other inks and dyes available in larger quantities to the general public market are found in bingo dabbers, are for calligraphy and fountain pens, and food coloring. However, these inks and dyes are too diluted for the bright colors needed for rainbow name art. There is a need, then, for a readily available end cost effective system which combines the right type of coloring fluid, whether ink, paint or dye, with the right type of dispensing container.
A second reason that a kit such as this has not been invented is because small, fluid-tight containers of the right size, with small neck openings and with a cap that will cover the wick but not push it down into the opening are difficult to find. Most caps cover the opening flush, thereby pushing the wick down into the neck until it is flush with the opening. The user then has the job of pulling the wick out of the opening, which typically means getting tweezers, fingers or other pointed gripping object, dirty. This type of container must be specially ordered in quantities and the neck modified to fit the wick, or must be specially designed and manufactured. The wick must also be specially sized to fit the container.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a selectably combinable multicolor modular marker and kit in which the markers are connectable to other such modular markers in selectable numbers and combinations to produce adjacent, parallel and contiguous elongate markings of different colors similar to a rainbow on a receiving surface.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a marker and kit in which the markers each have diametrically opposing sets of arms for removably interconnecting the markers permitting either arm set of one marker to interconnect with either arm set of another such marker so that there is no need to determine which arm set on one marker will connect with which arm set on another marker.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a marker and kit in which the arms constrain the markers to interconnect along a straight line.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a marker and kit which utilizes the child-safe and convenient ink-dispensing features of a marker, with or without the interconnecting arms, supplied with the soft, engineered material for marker nibs separate and outside from the marker, for use in the traditional method of rainbow name painting for which this present invention is made.